Archive for February, 2012

A Lifestyle of Love – But Where to Start?!

Posted: February 28, 2012 in Uncategorized
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Do you remember when you were a kid and your room would be a complete disaster – and a parent maybe told you to clean your room, and it would seem so overwhelming?!  I remember what my mother used to tell me:  ”start by making your bed.”  And it always seemed to help.  For some reason, that made the daunting task of cleaning the cluttered room actually seem possible.  Why?  Looking back, maybe that’s the most noticeable thing in the room?  Maybe it’s a mind-game that perhaps if I can make that look all neat and clean, then it gives me motivation and fortitude to tackle the other, smaller piles and messes?  Or, perhaps, it’s because that’s the easiest mess to start with.  I sleep in the bed every night, so therefore it’s the easiest thing to fix right away cuz it hasn’t had time to acquire piles on top of it.  After making my bed, it always seemed that the room eventually got cleaned up, as long as I stayed focused on finishing what I started.

When it comes to living a life of this reality, “Small things with Great Love”, at first the task can seem daunting.  Our lives, which have been scattered with “stuff” appear out-of-whack and we see the need to organize, and clean up.  But it can appear to be discouraging.  So my advice?  Start with the “bed.”  What is one thing in your life that you can control and change right now?  Remember, it’s small things with great love behind it.  What would “making the bed” look like in a normal person’s life?  Here’s some suggestions, some taken from real, every-day people:

-If you like chocolate, start buying only Fair Trade Chocolate.  This is a quick, easy way to vote with your dollar.  To get motivated on why to buy fair trade chocolate, see the video here: http://documentaryheaven.com/the-dark-side-of-chocolate/

-Go to World Vision and decide to sponsor a child.  For only $30 a month, you provide meals, healthcare and an education.  That’s about $1 a day!

-Become a big brother or big sister to a child who doesn’t have a father or mother, or a positive adult in their life.  To find out more, check this out:http://www.bbbs.org/site/c.9iILI3NGKhK6F/b.5962335/k.BE16/Home.htm

-Instead of spending so much on cable TV or Dish, opt out for a lower bundle and use the amount of money you would spend every month saving to go on a mission or humanitarian trip, or donate to a cause of your choice.

-Use moments and opportunities that present themselves to you as a moment to trade.  My brother started a website called Trade for Freedom.  You can check it out at www.tradeforfreedom.org.  In it, he wants to use different things in his life to trade for the freedom of a human being.  For instance, instead of getting a certain drink he likes, he’s going to put that money toward International Justice Mission where a slave can be freed.  He had a moment this past weekend where someone vandalized his car, and instead of buying the hood ornament (about $40 on ebay), he is donating that money to IJM – he’s trading for freedom.  As he puts it, “I don’t want to just send money off and not have to be too closely involved.  I want to be closely involved.  I want to make more of an impact and to understand more and just be the change…What if I take something I don’t really need to get, and every time I would normally buy that instead I trade it for someone’s freedom?  I suppose that is still donating, but I feel it’s different when there is great love behind it.  And a way that we can do something really small, with great love is to trade something really small, for the freedom and rescue of a hurting lost fellow human.  And it doesn’t have to be money.  If I have an old computer I’m not using anymore, I’m going to sell it and donate the money to those who are on the front lines.  Yes, I would love to be on the front lines.  But until I can be, I can do this…I can trade for freedom.”  Join him, or start your own unique journey.

These are just a few ideas.  The message is clear – start somewhere, and like my mother meant when she told me to “start with making your bed”, start in the easiest place that you notice right now.  And remember:  It’s “Small Things with Great Love” that change the world, one step at a time. What are some things you’ve done to start living a lifestyle of love?

Small Things with Great Love – Some Examples of Ordinary People

Posted: February 24, 2012 in Uncategorized
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“The most valuable weapon in the fight against human trafficking may be you,” the article begins.  These stories are some great examples of ordinary people in just a year’s time doing something beyond themselves.  I just had to share this link!  It shows that ordinary people doing small things, with great love and justice behind it, is proof that we can change the world!  Check it out the link below, or you can read on and I’ve included a copy of it in this post:

http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/23/ways-to-help-making-a-difference/?on.cnn=1&hpt=hp_c3

The most valuable weapon in the fight against human trafficking may be you.

CNN is celebrating the work of ordinary people inspired to do something, to take action; to stand up against slavery.

People from West Africa, South America, Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia, have all joined the fight.

Watch the “Taking a Stand, Making a Difference” show here in three parts. In the first segment, viewers horrified by our expose of working conditions for people cocoa farming in West Africa campaign for more Fair Trade products.

Natalie, in Romania, was moved to stop eating chocolate until Fair Trade cocoa is on sale in local shops. Gerry, in New Zealand, tried to make a regionally-inspired dish using only Fair Trade products.

Meanwhile, young Christians at a U.S. convention built a statue symbolizing the extent of slavery, raised $3 million for related charities – and got the attention of President Barack Obama.

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From the quirky to online campaigns to school projects, their stories also offer practical ideas and information to others who want to get involved in helping the victims of modern-day slavery.

In part two, the idea that people are not for sale is spreading across Ukraine, and one South Korean school is now campaigning to abolish the modern-day scourge.

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In part three, one woman beat her fashion bug to help women rescued from human trafficking.

Amy Seiffert wore the same dress for six months and donated the money she would have spent on clothes to a local organization building a shelter for rescued women in Ohio.

She says it was a small thing that reinforced the message that her ability to choose is privilege denied to many.

Along the way she inspired others, and the Daughter Project’s shelter is now a reality.

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Small Things with Great Love – Part 2

Posted: February 22, 2012 in Realizations, Uncategorized
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Unbeknownst to us, a chain of events was about to change our reality. We made our way out of the auditorium. I was convicted but also a bit annoyed that my soul was rattled as much as it was. A part of me wanted to take on this challenge, but another part of me thought that nothing was going to happen, and kind of wanted to stay in an apathetic spot – which annoyed me even more. (that’s the disease of apathy). One part of me wanted a new existence, and the other part of me was already whining at the idea of uncomfortable change…

Steve and I decided to put something into practice right away, and so we put the idea of our LOVE dollar into reality by signing up to sponsor a Compassion International child. The table just happened to be right outside the auditorium doors. Steve and I sifted through faces and names (how to choose a child when they’re all deserving?). We finally picked one and this was the start of a chain of events that we are still witnessing. It would take a book to write in detail everything that has taken place since that day, and is still taking place. And so, to simplify things a bit, I’ve made an item-by-item list of events that took place that have rocked our world. I have the journey outlined below. First, there’s a visual of the ripple effects of my Love dollar, and proof that small things with great love CAN indeed change the world – then after the pictures is a more in-depth list of what each step entailed.

  • We received the LOVE dollar. We decided to sponsor a child right away through Compassion International. Months passed but the message is sank into my soul. Meanwhile we were preparing to go on a mission trip with our youth to India. We decided to include a trip to Mother Teresa’s house in Calcutta while we’re there.
  • We go to India. In the plane I finish reading Shane Claiborne’s book, The Irresistible Revolution. It’s the perfect prep for my experience in India.
  • We experience love with the orphans in India, and my prayer for self to be broken is answered. I realize that it hurts to be awakened to love and have my heart softened, but it’s a beautiful hurt. Those kid’s hearts are intertwined with mine. A piece of my heart is still in India…We visit the Mother House (Mother Teresa’s house in Calcutta) and are able to volunteer there. We also are able to go to an office of International Justice Mission in India and find out about helping those who are victims of human trafficking.
  • We come back to the States and I decide to take Mother Teresa’s words to heart: “the world is full of Calcuttas. Find your Calcutta…” I see the poverty of our community and the empires of loneliness and emptiness we suffer from, including a paralyzing apathy that plagues most of us.
  • We have an event in April, taking “compassionate action” to the streets in Santa Rosa. We pass out flowers to strangers, put couches on the sidewalk for people to sit on, and provide a hot meal. This is the precursor to a few months later…
  • We have the first ever Open Table, taking and being “church” to the Homeless Community of Santa Rosa. It’s an instant hit with all involved. We become alive and experience what church is really supposed to be about – bringing love through compassionate action to everyone. As the slogan says, “At the Open Table, all are Welcome.”
  • Steve and I decide to stop spending so much money on ourselves at Christmas and start celebrating by giving, literally, to those in need. So we start what is our tradition now, of volunteering at San Francisco City Impact, the best way to spend Christmas, in my opinion.
  • We continue Open Table, which happens at least 3 times a year now, and is growing with ideas from others, including a bike repair station, free coffee from Starbucks, and a toiletries booth, among others.
  • I start a “Be the Change, Be the Church” project with my 11th grade class where I give them a LOVE dollar, and they have to come up with a way to change their world, which has resulted in raising hundreds of dollars for IJM (International Justice Mission), feeding the hungry in Healdsburg with leftover food from the cafe, raising awareness about human trafficking, to name a few.
  • Went to Africa on a Mission trip, and then to Thailand, twice, where we lived with and worked with the hill tribe people in Northern Thailand. (To find out more, click here: http://www.adrathailand.org) We also had the opportunity to build a playground for a girl’s safe house, which houses and educates girls that are in danger of becoming victims of human trafficking. We fell in love with these people and see them as our brothers and sisters, and they compel us to find out more about how to raise awareness of human trafficking, and how to fight it.
  • I and 5 students attend Freedom Summit 2011, a conference raising awareness about Human Trafficking and Modern-day Slavery and ways we can stop it. This compels us to continue to join the fight, no matter what, in stopping the injustice against our fellow human beings. We hear about many organizations and causes to join, including Not for Sale, Call and Response, IJM, Polaris Project, and others.
  • We take this back to our school and the students become mobilized to fight against modern-day slavery. A four-year senior, David Kabanje, who has had a dream to be the first high-school to ever hold a REVO event, (short for Revolution) joins his dream with the cause of the students, and they plan and host the first ever high school led REVO event, which they entitle, “Fair for Fairness”. At this event they raise over $1600 to give to IJM to free 2 slaves.
  • Through the REVO event we meet our good friends from One World Fair Trade store in Healdsburg, who bring a booth to the event. We sign the petition to have Healdsburg become a Fair Trade town, and this is also the start of a great friendship which has continued to bless us.
  • We get invited to join the steering committee to help Healdsburg become a Fair Trade town and accept. We meet amazing friends who also are passionate about justice and compassion in real, active ways, which drives our passion as well.
  • We find out more about Fair Trade and how it plays into fighting against human trafficking. We start and are still implementing ways of spending and continue to realize how our dollar carries a lot of power in the way we spend and what we spend our money on. (To find out more about fair trade, check out my husband’s blog at www.afairtradeplace.com). We start only buying fair trade chocolate, coffee, and now sugar, and other products. We continue to become conscientious consumers…
  • We go to another event, Not for Sale’s Global Forum on Human Trafficking, where we meet and hear from some great names. We also continue to learn ways of being people of compassion, and learn how great love truly is and how it can, indeed, change the world, including our own souls.
  • And the adventure continues! Can’t wait to see where it continues to lead!

It will be fun to see where the adventure continues to take us. It’s amazing to see that in just a few years, you really can live a reality of adventure, justice, love, change and growth. Small things, with Great Love behind them, can indeed change the world. But more importantly, Great Love has and is changing me!

Small Things with Great Love – Part 1

Posted: February 17, 2012 in Rantings
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Steve and I had no idea what we had gotten ourselves into.  The music was bumping, the crowd was excited.  We were about 4 rows back from the stage.  Unbeknownst to us our world was about to be rattled.  We were at a Youth Leader’s event, the auditorium filled with fellow Youth workers, all getting away for a weekend to get our souls filled up.  We had just heard a great band, and then this strange-looking guy gets introduced on stage.  He was our main speaker for the afternoon, and his presence commanded attention.

He had dreads and his clothing looked like it was made from a gunny sack.  He talked for about 45 minutes, telling about growing up in the Church and how, as a teen, he would go to different youth events such as retreats, summer camp, youth rallies, or youth group and be entertained and there would always be the altar call from whoever the speaker was.  And they would call up anyone who wanted to give their life to God, and so he would get saved, again, again.  And he wondered as he got older, “is this all there is to this faith/church thing?”  Is church a place where we get reminded over and over again that we’re saved and God loves us, and then we return to “normal life?”   As I heard this guy speak, I was hooked.

Shane Claiborne speaking at an event

Shane Claiborne continued his testimony of how, in college, he and some friends were reading about a story in the local paper where some homeless people who had been staying in an abandoned church were getting evicted by the city.  So he and his friends decided to get involved. They made flyers that read “Jesus is getting kicked out of church…” and put them up around campus.  He and his friends decided to go there and be with “Jesus” (as He is in the poor and the needy).  As Shane puts it, “if they (the homeless) weren’t out, they could face arrest for trespassing on church property. So that really stirred all kinds of deep questions in us.  And a group of us from the college got involved and, basically, put our lives alongside theirs and said to the city, ‘If you come to evict them, then you got to take us, too.’ …the media got involved and made it look like the church was kicking homeless people out, cuz they were kicking homeless people out.”  So what should have only been 48 hours turned into weeks and weeks.  And during this time, Shane and his classmates became family with these homeless folks.  After the media coverage, the result was amazing!  The community saw it on the news and responded, providing housing, shelter, food, clothing, etc.

Shane tells about a defining moment when they were all in the church, eating with the homeless families – these families who had now become a family to them.  Shane and some others were going through boxes of donations from different organizations, and as they opened one box from a wealthy church, they found it full of microwave popcorn – the only problem being that there was no microwave to make the popcorn!  Around this same time the mafia had shown up, donating brand new bikes for all the kids as well as thousands of dollars for the people to survive off or use for future housing.  Shane talks about how he and a friend were inside the abandoned church, near the altar, and they were discouraged by this huge difference.  He says, “it’s nice the mafia donated all this, but you’re kinda hoping that during a time of need the church would step up.”  He then shared what has become one of my favorite quotes, which was birthed from this experience.  He started by saying “We had all kinds of baggage from the church. You know, recovering evangelicals and disenchanted Catholics…”  And then Shane shared that in that moment, at the altar of the abandoned church,  …”we just said, ‘We’re going to stop complaining about the church that we’ve experienced and try to become the church that we dream of.‘”

Shane Claiborne at The Simple Way

He continued on his testimony, talking about how he went to work with Mother Teresa, and how he and some friends started an organization called “The Simple Way”, which is where he lives and works today.  (You can find out more about it here:  http://www.thesimpleway.org/  .)  He talked about how he went to Iraq during the war with some other people from the Iraq Peace Team, and was there on the ground when the “shock and awe” bombs fell, and how he and his friends saw innocent civilians die.  One Iraqi man, with tears in his eyes, said “This violence is for people who have lost their imagination.”  (to read more about Shane Claiborne in Iraq and how his experience is still helping him to change the world, check out http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shane-claiborne/jesus-bombs-and-ice-cream_b_922149.html).  Shane had began to experience that maybe what Jesus said He really meant.  That another world is possible, and that His kingdom, a kingdom of love to all, could indeed be realized here and now.  That church is about living the reality that Jesus showed us, and not just about sitting in a building talking about it.

As Shane’s sermon concluded, he gave his own altar call.  He talked about how it’s ironic that he gets called to speak    about hunger and homelessness at a huge charity dinner.  Or how he’ll get asked to speak to a bunch of youth workers about being the hands and feet of Jesus to the poor and suffering of the world, but he’ll get paid thousands of dollars to do it.  So he took the money that they were going to pay him, and cashed it out into 1 dollar bills, and wrote “LOVE” on each bill and scattered them all over the stage. Shane talked about how a lot of people get overwhelmed with the needs in the world, and begin to question: what can I really do?  I’m only one person.  And then we end up doing nothing.  Instead, he reminded us of what Mother Teresa says:  ”We can do no great things, only small things with great love.“ He then challenged us to do something, anything, and as long as we have great love behind it, it doesn’t matter how big it is, it can and it WILL change the world.

So Steve and I made our way forward, picked up our dollar, walked out of the auditorium, and our world began to turn upside down… (To be continued in Part 2)

A Picture of my Love Dollar

 

To see Shane Claiborne’s full testimony, watch here:

 

To read about Shane’s experience more in-depth, check out his book about his experiences, The Irresistable Revolution:

Love in the Midst

Posted: February 13, 2012 in Ravings & Realizations
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On a recent episode of American Idol, one of the contestants who is auditioning has a heart-wrenching story of why she wants to sing.  When I saw this, it reminded me of what true love looks like.  It was a reminder to me in the midst of my busy, hectic week that God’s love is beyond what I can imagine.  That God, being LOVE, never ever lets me go.  This story reminded me that LOVE is not just a word thrown around to make us feel all mushy inside.  True Love is beyond mere words: it is action, and it shows its true colors in all situations of life, be they the high mountain-top moments, the lazy plateau’s, or the low, dark valleys. Check the story out:

So with Valentine’s Day here, sometimes it’s hard to see love around us, unless it’s on a cheesy card, or heard in a love song on the radio, or seen in a chic flick.  Maybe it’s not that love isn’t around us, but maybe our eyes are not open to it.  What if LOVE  is whispering to us at every second?  What if we’re the ones who are numb to it, deaf to it,  or just too busy to see its signs?

Could it be that God is shouting “I LOVE YOU” all the time, and we are the ones who are missing it?

Going back to the American Idol episode, I’ll be rooting for her for sure!  But deeper than that, I’m reminded that God has not given up on me, even in the moments I’ve forgotten Him, or can’t speak clearly, or am waking up from my own spiritual paralysis.  He is there, singing to me, teaching me to speak, helping me to walk, and wooing not just me, but ALL of us, to fall in love.  And then, carry that love to others, no matter the situation, circumstance, or place.  Because when you fall in love, you can’t help but tell the world…

Shawshank Redemption

Posted: February 10, 2012 in Realizations
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One of my favorite movies is Shawshank Redemption.  There are so many great parts of this story, but one of my all-time favorite scenes is when Tim Robbin’s character is in the new library unpacking the boxes of donated books.  He opens a box full of records, and while the prison guard is using the bathroom, he pulls out a record and decides to put it on the record-player.  The music soars and unleashes his spirit, inspiring him to share it with his friends, enemies, and all within earshot.  It’s as if the song unshackles something deep within him, liberating him from fear and giving him the ability to offer this gift of spiritual freedom to others.  In the clip you can tell he knows what will be the repercussions of his decision.  For a moment you can see him hesitating, asking himself if it is worth it…and he decides to go through with it, knowing what the consequences may be.

Who in your world is in need of hope today?  Who is in a prison of circumstances beyond themselves?  Who needs a song, a smile, a hug, a handshake…or just to be heard or understood.  Who needs to be seen, really seen.  If you’ve heard the song of a liberating love, the song that has been whispering through all the ages, the song sung and demonstrated by God Himself to our fallen world, then turn up the volume and blast it to every fellow prisoner you come in contact with!    May we all be willing to BE that song, not only for our own souls, but for the souls of those who surround us.  Because in reality, we’ve already been set free!

Here’s the clip (you’ll have to click it again to go to Youtube):

Connected

Posted: February 7, 2012 in Rantings & Ravings
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You know, driving a vehicle is weird.  We get inside these huge machines and head down this space that’s designated for the machines, and then we accelerate to high speeds that could kill us if we happen to collide into other “machines.”  It’s like another world out there on the highway.  Different car styles, shapes and colors.  Loud trucks that drive slowly and get into the passing lane just when you want to pass another car…and then you’re stuck behind the truck.  And is it just me, or does it seem like the truck suddenly gets slower once it gets into the passing lane?!  (As you can tell, trucks can make me very annoyed when I drive). And then there are motercycles and all the different looking people who ride them.  It’s like this other reality takes place when we’re all driving together.  A reality of rights and violations and unfairness, or of busy thoughts as we think about where we’re headed to.  We seem to forget that we are all sacred human souls with our different stories and journeys and loved ones.  We seem to take on this defensiveness when we get behind the wheel, this feeling that “all are out to get me.”

I was driving the other day when I ran into a traffic jam.  You know the kind, where it seems to materialize out of nowhere.  We were all flying down the road with all our appointments and agendas nagging, when suddenly, life as we knew it came to a crawl.  Red tail lights everywhere, vehicles inching along.  And then you have the idiots who think honking will somehow help.  Really?  Anyway, there we all were, inching along.  Of course we’re all wondering what is causing the holdup.  Is it an accident? (Which, by the way, definantly brings us back to reality when we are flying down the road in these huge machines.  An accident reminds us that we are mortal and fragile and that the agenda is really not that important).  Was it a cop stopping someone?  What could is possibly be?

After what seemed like forever, I inched closer to where I could catch a view of the cause of the traffic jam.  On this 3-lane highway, one lane was merging into the other two, so that it was becoming a 2-lane highway.  But that’s not what was causing the delay.  The traffic jam was being caused because every car was trying to speed ahead on the merging lane, and then at the last-minute trying to swerve into the next lane.  It’s as if the drivers were thinking: “if I can just get up close enough, then I can beat 3 cars and get ahead.”  What they didn’t seem to realize was the fact that this action was causing a reaction for every car behind them, in every lane!  And it was progressing backwards, causing more and more cars behind them to have to put on the brakes.

After being annoyed that this selfishness was causing all of us to suffer, it occurred to me that we do the same thing in a lot of other places in life, not just on a highway while driving.  We think about “getting ahead” and if we can cut corners so that we can get our ever-so-important agenda done, we’ve won for that day.  We don’t think about all the people behind us and around us that will have to react to the actions we set in motion.  We don’t realize that we can cause others in their journey to slow down and be effected by our mistakes.  What we don’t seem to understand is that every decision or choice we make, does effect others for either good or bad.  We are that powerful!

I like this music video I saw on a friend’s Facebook post.  It’s called Forgotten Promises.  It’s talking about ending world hunger.  At first I wasn’t sure about the title of the video, but now I think I understand.  Most of us don’t like to see someone starving or in pain or suffering.  And so we make promises of one kind or another.  Maybe it’s to sponsor a child.  Maybe it’s to choose more ethically in the way we spend our money.  Maybe it’s to eat less and not be a glutton.  But sometimes, a lot of times, we forget these promises.  We get caught up in the game of life.  We get distracted in the hurry of the rat race, and like the drivers on a highway, we forget that we are all fragile creatures connected with the same stuff.  We are all human.  We all have our stories.  We all have our journeys and our loved ones.  We forget that our actions will cause reactions, either for good or bad to others around the world.  And my choice to try to selfishly cut corners and “get ahead”, may result in a huge “traffic jam” of people who are held back from their destinations that they were created for.  We are more powerful than we realize.  May we all remember and celebrate the fact that we are connected and that every action has direct, immediate repercussions on other sacred souls.  Let’s remember that we’re all made of the same stuff.  We’re all brothers and sisters.  And if we are this powerful alone, how crazy powerful we are when we choose to connect and unite to change the world for the better.

Courage Like a Kid – Part 2

Posted: February 1, 2012 in Ravings & Realizations
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This kid is pretty awesome!  He saw that there was an injustice and changed the law!  As he puts it, “If you think there’s a problem in the world, you don’t wait for other people to fix it. You have to try to fix it yourself.”   Check out his story!

video?id=4123376#.TybN9sHUTag.gmail

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/PersonOfWeek/story?id=4123327&page=1#.TybKgFwkJSQ